My Pet Peeve of the day: You do not shock asystole

[Cool-Beans]

The kids just called out, "Asystole!"

As always, I called, "They shocking?"

And came the reply, "They got him back!"

It's a long tradition. I watch all medical shows with a grain of salt. The drama is more important than the accuracy. I'm sure the same can be said of the legal world and Law & Order, etc. When you know a little more than the writers do, you have to back off.

And the drama of seeing a flatline, followed by the rush for the paddles...and the moment where you wait to see if it worked and a normal sinus rhythm returns...well, it's cool. People are glued. They made a whole movie about it - "Flatliners."

But, as my kids know, it isn't possible. You don't bring people back by shocking asystole (flatline.) You do shock some stuff, but not that. The kids know it irks me, so they always call out when TV or movie people go asystolic.

For asystole, you do CPR, epi and atropine. Not as dramatic, I know.

But it is my pet peeve of the day.

 

[Diva of Dragons]

The kids just called out, "Asystole!"

As always, I called, "They shocking?"

And came the reply, "They got him back!"

It's a long tradition. I watch all medical shows with a grain of salt. The drama is more important than the accuracy. I'm sure the same can be said of the legal world and Law & Order, etc. When you know a little more than the writers do, you have to back off.

And the drama of seeing a flatline, followed by the rush for the paddles...and the moment where you wait to see if it worked and a normal sinus rhythm returns...well, it's cool. People are glued. They made a whole movie about it - "Flatliners."

But, as my kids know, it isn't possible. You don't bring people back by shocking asystole (flatline.) You do shock some stuff, but not that. The kids know it irks me, so they always call out when TV or movie people go asystolic.

For asystole, you do CPR, epi and atropine. Not as dramatic, I know.

But it is my pet peeve of the day.

LOL!! I laugh at it all the time. Even when we got CPR certified, we were tought that! How can the consultants to all these show not say someting?

 

[lsyorke]

A MAJOR pet peeve of mine! I've had to explain to MANY families why we aren't shocking their loved one.

 

[mickeymedic]

How can the consultants to all these show not say someting?

That's what I wonder, too. It's bad enough that they shock asystole. It's even worse when they are shocking asystole through the hospital gown or patient's clothing.

 

[Cool-Beans]

That's what I wonder, too. It's bad enough that they shock asystole. It's even worse when they are shocking asystole through the hospital gown or patient's clothing.

Can't cut people's clothes off on TV.

Also can't check for pulses, I guess, so if it is v-tach, just shock.

My kids do not know the ins and outs of dysrhythmias, but they know that you can't get people back by shocking asystole. They have fun with it. My response varies.

Sometimes they call out, "They're shocking asystole!" and I'll call back, "They get 'em back?" and they say that they did and I say, "Good for them!!!"

It's all fun...but it is my Pet Peeve today.

 

[pleefy]

I didn't know that. Now I'll watch for it.

 

[lovetoscrap]

I thought I was going to have to report you for going around the word filter. . .

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

I thought I was going to have to report you for going around the word filter. . .

That's exactly where I was. On the way to work there was an asystole and the first thought that popped into my head was shocking it. Now I know better.

 

[Cool-Beans]

LOL, now every time I'm pissed, I'm going to think, "Shock that asystole."

"Shock you!" "No, shock YOU!"

 

[princess momma]

I'm also totally disgusted by the tv doctors that run from patient to patient without changing their gloves or washing their hands. Repulsive.

 

[monkey68]

Drives me nuts! I'm getting ACLS certification in a couple weeks, and my school held an EKG review for us. Not really just for the ACLS class, but a review of reading EKG's doesn't hurt, since we will be on rotations in a few months. Anyway, he puts up a flatline EKG, tells us "This is asystole. Only shockable on ER".

It's crazy, I never actually realized just how many mistakes like that happen on TV shows until I started medical school. Now when I watch those shows, they make me want to pull my hair out, especially Grey's Anatomy.

 

[basketrn]

The kids just called out, "Asystole!"

As always, I called, "They shocking?"

And came the reply, "They got him back!"

It's a long tradition. I watch all medical shows with a grain of salt. The drama is more important than the accuracy. I'm sure the same can be said of the legal world and Law & Order, etc. When you know a little more than the writers do, you have to back off.

And the drama of seeing a flatline, followed by the rush for the paddles...and the moment where you wait to see if it worked and a normal sinus rhythm returns...well, it's cool. People are glued. They made a whole movie about it - "Flatliners."

But, as my kids know, it isn't possible. You don't bring people back by shocking asystole (flatline.) You do shock some stuff, but not that. The kids know it irks me, so they always call out when TV or movie people go asystolic.

For asystole, you do CPR, epi and atropine. Not as dramatic, I know.

But it is my pet peeve of the day.

AMEN!!!

I am a ER Nurse and Flight Nurse, and my DH is a Flight Paramedic..so we always have a good laugh at all the medical shows out there and their lack of medical knowledge, you would think they would hire someone that is medically inclined to watch for these mistakes...like you we watch it for the drama not the medical content!

 

[scottishduffy]

Yeah, my husband refuses to watch medical dramas because he hates hearing me point out all the mistakes.

We had an inservice in the ICU about code survival rates on TV vs. code survival rates in real life. Seriuosly, an entire staff meeting and an agenda out forth to deal with peoples perceptions of codes vs. how they actually go and how we can help them cope with the mismatched ideas.

On TV you have something around an ~85% chance of surviving a code blue, the most shocked rhythm there is Asystole, and the person pretty much always comes back without any ill effects.

Real life: You have an 18% chance of surviving a code.... but only a 2% chance of actually surviving until discharge and not having major brain damage (minor imparments weren't counted). Most who code once will code again and pass away.

My hubby got peeved during one of the james bond movies when james was injecting himself with something to control an arrythmia and I went berserk on how WRONG that was.

 

[L107ANGEL]

That's exactly where I was. On the way to work there was an asystole and the first thought that popped into my head was shocking it. Now I know better.

 

[CajunDixie]

I never understood why some of these hospital shows didn't use a training module attached to their monitors. This way they could chose what ever rhythm they wanted from the ever favorite asystole to PEA to VT to SR. Heck even throw in a Winkybach for kicks.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This is why I can never watch any of these shows.

The most realistic movie I've ever seen, though, was The Doctor with William Hurt. They did a pretty good job there, IMO.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I never understood why some of these hospital shows didn't use a training module attached to their monitors. This way they could chose what ever rhythm they wanted from the ever favorite asystole to PEA to VT to SR. Heck even throw in a Winkybach for kicks.

I'd love to hear someone on TV say, "wenckebach." Everyone in the country would be saying, "Winky what?" But it'd be cool.

They could throw us a flippin bone, KWIM?

 

[Buckalew11]

DH won't watch either. It drives him crazy. He also hated that Ron Howard movie, BackDraft.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I always imagined it would be fun to watch these actors in a real situation.

 

[Cool-Beans]

DH won't watch either. It drives him crazy. He also hated that Ron Howard movie, BackDraft.

I'll watch stuff I'm interested in. I watch House all the time. Most of the errors I just don't care about. They register in my head but are in and out, zippity quick.

The asystole thing, though. It's the one absolutely baseless thing that they all do and they do it ALL THE FLIPPIN TIME. So much that if you walked up to Joe Schmoe on the street and asked what doctors do when people flatline, they'd say that they get the paddles. It's that ingrained in our media.

Thing that make you go, "Ugh." Pet Peeve of the Day.